Sherman Hemsley – Sister Sledge, Jazz, Rock and LSD?

Legendary actor and performer Sherman Hemsley, who died on July 24, 2012, was much more than the hilarious roles he played and hit television series like “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons,” and “Amen.”

Sherman Hemsley was a seasoned performer, who launched his career in Philadelphia, as an actor.

Hemsley was a member of the 20th Street gang, before he moved to New York as a Post Office worker and eventually joined the cast of the play “Purlie.”

“I didn’t know him from a bar of soap because we didn’t have television in Spain (where I was living). He called me from Hollywood saying, ‘I’m one of your biggest fans and I’m going to fly you here and put flying teapots all up and down the Sunset Strip.’ I thought, ‘This guy is a lunatic.’ He kept it up so I said, ‘Listen, can you get us tickets to L.A. via Jamaica? I want to go there to make a reggae track and have a honeymoon with my new girlfriend.’ He said, ‘Sure! I’ll get you two tickets.’”

The tickets arrived and Daevid Allen spent sometime in Hollywood, before he eventually met Sherman Helmsey at the airport.

Sherman Helmsey

A throng of fans surrounded Helmsey as he ushered Daevid Allen to a limo that was waiting near by.

What’s transpired afterwards is almost unbelievable.

“We get into this stretch limousine with Sherman and immediately there’s a big joint being passed around. I say, ‘Sorry man, I don’t smoke.’ Sherman says, ‘You don’t smoke and you’re from Gong?

When Sherman Hemsley and Daevid Allen arrived at Hemsley’s Los Angeles house, the scene was wild.

“There were two Puerto Ricans that had a LSD laboratory in his basement, so they were really paranoid,” Daevid Allen said. “They also had little crack/freebase depots on every floor. Then Sherman says, ‘Come on upstairs and I’ll show you the Flying Teapot room.’ Sherman was very sweet but was surrounded by these really crazy people.”